HALIFAX — A former university groundskeeper accused of sexually assaulting two Halifax women in the past five months is now facing a third sexual assault charge.

Halifax police said Thursday Mathew Albert Percy, 34, a former Saint Mary’s University employee, has been charged with sexual assault causing bodily harm in an alleged 2014 incident involving a third woman.

Police said that woman had come forward with a complaint on Dec 8, 2014, alleging she had been sexually assaulted two days earlier by a man known to her while they were at a residence on Lemarchant Street in Halifax.

The police force’s Sexual Assault Investigative Team looked into the case, but no charges were laid and the file was closed on Jan. 5, 2015.

“Through the course of the investigation it was determined (investigators) were going to close it — they weren’t going forward with charges,” said Const. Carol McIsaac, a police spokeswoman. “This was closed as founded but no charges laid.”

However, she confirmed the investigation was reopened by the team on Jan. 19, 2018, as questions were raised about the most recent cases, and the new charge was laid on Wednesday.

“From time to time, when investigators are dealing with two investigations, it may lead them to look into previous investigations that had been closed,” McIsaac said. “Based on re-investigating an old case, with a new set of eyes, they’ll reach out to the victims and witnesses.”

On Dec. 19, 2017, police said the Halifax man had been charged with sexual assault, choking to overcome resistance and voyeurism after a woman reported she had been assaulted on Sept. 3 by a man she knew at a residence in the Armdale area of Halifax.

On Dec. 6, 2017, Percy was accused of sexually assaulting a student at a Saint Mary’s dormitory on Sept. 15. He was charged with sexual assault and voyeurism. Police allege Percy, who was still employed at the university at the time, recorded the alleged incident on his phone.

The accused appeared in Halifax provincial court on Thursday and was returned to custody.

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